10 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness: Ideas for the Classroom

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With Christmas just around the corner, have a go at ticking off our top ten Random Acts of Christmas Kindness ideas with your class. It’s a great way to add some festive fun to the classroom at the end of term and of course, the underlying message is incredibly positive.

Random Act of Kindness: A selfless act performed by a person to either help or cheer up a stranger, for no reason other than to make people happier.

Ask students to write down these 10 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness in their school planners and encourage them to try to tick as many off as they can by Christmas Day!

Boomerang Top 10 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness:

  1. Give three people a genuine compliment either in person or via social media.
  2. Help someone with a chore or other job.
  3. Give up your place in a queue to somebody.
  4. Write someone a real letter and send it.
  5. Pick up litter.
  6. When you hear people around you gossiping about someone, be the person to say something nice.
  7. Give someone a hug.
  8. Try to include everyone in a group conversation.
  9. Offer someone your your seat on a bus or train.
  10. If you hear that negative voice in your head, remember that you deserve kindness too!

We want to hear from you!

Do you have any other classroom-inspired Random Acts of Kindness to add to our list? Drop us a tweet and let us know 🙂

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10 Growth Mindset Quotes for Teachers

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It may be December but we’re already conjuring up images of spring with these growth mindset quotes. Boomerang school planners are designed to help pupils learn and progress at school and what better way to do that then through Carol Dweck’s growth mindset concept?

We’ve put together a list of growth mindset quotes (taken from our planners) for teachers to use as inspiration in lessons. Think about ways that you can incorporate growth mindset into pupil learning. You can stick our suggested growth mindset quotes up around the classroom to encourage a positive, growth-mindset learning environment for students:

  1. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. Theodore Roosevelt
  2. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. Margaret Thatcher
  3. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. Albert Einstein
  4. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Henry Ford
  5. Don’t tell me how talented you are. Tell me how hard you work. Arthur Rubenstein
  6. If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it’s OK. But you’ve got to shoot for something. A lot of people don’t even shoot. Confucius
  7. Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. Unknown
  8. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vince Lombardi
  9. How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win. K. Chesterton
  10. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake. Elbert Hubbard

Do you have any other useful quotes that fit with our growth mindset theme? Leave a comment below!

2017 Wicked Young Writer Awards Now Open: Competition of the Month!

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What are the Wicked Young Writer Awards?

  • The Wicked Young Writer Awards are sponsored by the award-winning musical Wicked in association with the National Literacy Trust.
  • Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron of the Awards, set up to recognise excellence in writing & creativity and to help develop literacy in young people.
  • Acclaimed author & illustrator of the How to Train Your Dragon books, Cressida Cowell, will return as Head Judge for the awards. Michael Morpurgo is also honorary judge of the awards.
  • Watch this video on the 2016 Awards to see how the Awards can benefit pupils.
  • NB: The For Good Award for Non-Fiction, is also open for 15-25 year olds to write essays/articles that recognise the positive impact that people can have on each other, their communities & the world we live in.
  • To find out more about the competition, check out our Carpe Diem entry, which contains all the details.

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Prizes!

  • All winners will receive 4 tickets to see the London production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and the opportunity to meet cast members after the show along with an exclusive backstage tour.
  • Younger categories (5-7, 8-11 and 11-14) also win £50 worth of books/eBooks tokens to spend, as well as £100 worth of books for the winners’ school library donated by Hachette Children’s Books and a bespoke Wicked workshop for their school!
  • Older categories (15-17, 18-25 and For Good Award for Non-Fiction) also win £50 worth of books/eBooks tokens to spend and an exclusive writing experience with one of the Awards’ literacy partners.

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How to Enter:

School Yearbooks Update – We’ve Had a Makeover!

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Here at Boomerang Education, we’re constantly striving to improve our products and services – that includes our website too. So we’ve recently updated our yearbooks page to make it bolder, simpler and easier on the eye.

New features include:

1.Clear Pricing

We don’t hide our prices – you can order a school yearbook for as little as £10.65 per book.

For more information on pricing options, just contact a member of the yearbook team and we’ll be happy to chat through your yearbook options with you.

2. Social Media

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Our brand new Instagram and Twitter accounts target predominantly students but also teachers.

Do make sure you check our social media accounts as this is where we’ll be sharing competition info and approaching Carpe Diem opportunities, as well as behind the scenes photos.

Our Twitter account in particular is a great way to get in touch with a member of the yearbook team, just drop us a Tweet or send us a direct message 🙂

(Teachers: we do also have a separate, teacher-focused Twitter account).

3. Online Chat

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On each page on our website you’ll be able to click a small ‘chat with us’ box in the bottom right hand corner. If it’s outside of working hours, you can still send a message and we’ll get back to you at the start of the next day.

So if you don’t feel like picking up the phone and email seems too long-winded, just open up a chat with us.

4. Simple Process Boxes

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A simple process needs a simple layout, which is why you’ll now be greeted by 6 pop-art-inspired boxes when you visit our school yearbooks page.

Click on each box to expand and you’ll find a wealth of information, from recruiting a yearbook team, to yearbook cover options.

5. Sample & Inspiration Pack 

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Once you’re on our yearbooks page, simply click on the rectangular Sample & Inspiration Pack image.

From here, you can flick through useful information on Boomerang yearbooks and hopefully get some inspiration too.

So, now that you know all about our new yearbook page, why not open up a chat window with a member of the team?

Boomerang Team.

School Yearbook Tips (Pt.3): Yearbook Awards For Teachers

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It’s not just the students that receive awards in our school yearbooks – why not include yearbook awards for teachers too? Teachers can make such an impact on school life so it seems only fitting that they feature in your leavers yearbook!

Teacher awards are also a great way to start getting people engaged in the yearbook process. Once you’ve come up with your list of awards, you can encourage other students to vote for who they think should win each award. This will ensure that everyone has their say and feels a part of the finished yearbook.

You can choose to include all sorts of teacher awards – we’ve sorted our suggestions into the positive and the…not so positive below:

PS: Check out part 1 and 2 of this yearbook tips series for some ideas on student yearbook awards.

 

Positive Yearbook Awards for Teachers…yearbook-awards-for-teachers

  • Funniest
  • Favourite
  • Best newcomer
  • Best dressed
  • Biggest gossip
  • Most laid-back
  • Most legendary
  • Most missed
  • Most energetic

Not So Positive Yearbook Awards for Teachers…yearbook-awards-for-teachers-2

  • Scariest
  • Push-over
  • Least likely to acknowledge you outside of school
  • Worst fashion sense
  • Most annoying homework assignments
  • Least missed
  • Least energetic

So can you come up with any other suggestions for yearbook awards for teachers? Let us know and we’ll add it in to this blog post!

The Boomerang Team.

School Yearbook Tips: Ideas for Your Yearbook Awards Page (Pt 2)

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Looking for ideas for a yearbook awards page? Yearbooks awards pages are a great way to get everyone talking about your leavers yearbook.

They’re also a way of showing off the wide range of talented students in your year group. You can choose awards for almost anything: funny, serious or a bit of both.

Check out part 1 of this yearbook tips series for the ‘best…worst’ awards and carry on reading for some ‘most likely to…least likely to’ awards!

 

Most likely to…
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  • Appear on Jeremy Kyle
  • Become a famous artist
  • Become a footballer
  • Become a comedian
  • Become Prime Minister
  • Get ID’d at 30
  • Invent the next Snapchat
  • yearbook-awards-page-idMake millions
  • Set a new Guinness World Record
  • Star in the West End
  • Visit Mars
  • Win an Olympic gold medal
  • Win an Oscar
  • Win the X Factor
  • Write the next Harry Potter

yearbook-awards-page-graduatesLeast likely to…

  • Attend a school reunion
  • Ever be able to grow facial hair
  • Graduate university
  • Get a job
  • Get in trouble for anything
  • Get married
  • yearbook-awards-page-parentsPass their driving test
  • Move out of their parents’ home
  • Remember any of our names in five years’ time
  • Stay in their hometown
  • Win a school prize

Stay tuned – next week we’ll be bringing you our favourite teacher awards ideas!

Boomerang Team

School Yearbook Tips: Ideas for Your Yearbook Awards Page (Pt 1)

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Yearbook awards pages are a great way to get everyone involved and talking about your leavers yearbook. They are also a great way to showcase the wide range of talented students in your year group. You can choose awards for almost anything: funny, serious or a mixture of both.

There are all sorts of ways to approach the awards page for your yearbook, which is why this blog is going to be a three-parter. Part one is dedicated to the ‘best…worst’ awards – recognising student ‘achievements’. Next week we’ll be bringing you ‘most likely to…’ awards ideas.

So without further ado, here are some of our favourite awards for your school yearbook:

The ‘Best’ Yearbook Awards…

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  • Best Hair
  • Best Couple
  • Best Smile
  • Best Laugh
  • Best Dressed (Male & Female)
  • Best FIFA player
  • Best Sense of Humour
  • Best Singer
  • Best Dancer
  • Best Newcomer
  • Best Celebrity Impression
  • Best Excuse for Being Late

yearbook-awards-obsessedThe ‘Biggest’ Yearbook Awards…

  • Biggest Poser
  • Biggest Gossip
  • Biggest Drama Queen
  • Biggest Party Animal
  • Biggest Ego

 

 

yearbook-awards-highlightersThe ‘Most’ Yearbook Awards…

  • Most Gullible
  • Most Competitive
  • Most Organised
  • Most Stubborn
  • Most Annoying
  • Most Hardworking
  • Most Sarcastic

 

 

yearbook-awards-bad-drivingThe ‘Worst’ and ‘Least’ Yearbook Awards…

  • Worst Attendance
  • Worst Driver
  • Worst Dressed
  • Worst Dancer
  • Worst Hair
  • Worst Singer
  • Worst at Sport
  • Worst Laugh
  • Least Hardworking
  • Least Organised

Let us know if we’ve missed any important awards off this list and stay tuned for part 2 next week!

Boomerang Team

School Yearbook Tips: Recruiting Your Team

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Approach your school yearbook project as if it were an actual business (looks great on a CV too). This means you’ll need to assign specific job roles to give everyone their own area of responsibility. Feel the power!

Where to begin we hear you ask? Well we’ve put together a list of school yearbook tips for the types of job roles you could consider:

school-yearbook-tips-staff-repThe Staff Rep

 

  • Decides who will have access to edit the yearbook.
  • In charge of signing off the completed yearbook.
  • Generally oversees students.
  • Pays the final yearbook bill to Boomerang Ed.

 

school-yearbook-tips-editor-roleThe Editor

 

  • Decides on the content that will be included in the leavers book.
  • Coordinates each member of the team.
  • Ensures that all deadlines are met.

 

 

school-yearbook-tips-art-directorThe Art Director

 

  • Oversees the page designs.
  • Decides on the order of yearbook pages.
  • Coordinate which students works on which page.

 

 

school-yearbook-tips-copy-editorThe Copy Editor

 

  • Gathers, writes or delegates all copy (text) for the yearbook.
  • Makes sure all copy has been proof-read.
  • Ensures that all copy is supplied on time by other students and staff.

 

 

school-yearbook-tips-photo-editorThe Photo Editor

 

  • Takes photos at school events.
  • Collects photos from other students who want to contribute to yearbook pages.
  • Checks through all of the photos before adding them into the yearbook.

 

 

school-yearbook-tips-sales-marketingSales & Marketing

 

  • Sells the yearbook concept to other students.
  • Comes up with ways to advertise the yearbook.
  • Keeps everyone updated with the yearbook process.

 

 

school-yearbook-tips-financierThe Financier

 

  • Collects payments from students.
  • Collects payments from possible sponsors.
  • Keeps accurate records of finances.

 

We hope you found these school yearbook tips on recruiting a team useful. Head on over to our school yearbook page for more information on our leavers yearbooks.

Happy recruiting!

Boomerang Team

10 Reasons to Get a Digital School Planner in 2017

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Pretty self-explanatory really.

So here goes…

1. Save time.

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Everything is less effort when you go digital. You already know that. That’s why you have a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, computer etc. So why not carry this through to a digital school planner?

2. Access your school timetable, calendar & homework anywhere.

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You can view a digital school planner on your mobile, tablet, laptop & PC. This means you’ll have access to all the important info you need, any time, any place.

3. Set yourself homework reminders.

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This is really handy because it’s easy to forget to check a homework diary. With a digital school planner, the ability to set yourself homework reminders means that you’ll never forget about a piece of homework again (yes this does means you’ll actually have to do said homework).

4. Keep everything in one place – saves on storage! 

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A digital school planner means that you have loads of storage space without taking up any physical space in your school bag. You can even use it as a personal calendar to make things even easier.

5. Catch up on schoolwork easily.

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Teachers will be able to attach lesson plans & useful classroom resources to individual classes so it will be easy for you to catch up if you aren’t able to attend a lesson.

6. Submit your homework online with the click of a button.

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You don’t have to worry about printing off and handing in homework assignments – just submit online with a digital homework planner!

7. No need to wait to receive your grade, view marking & feedback instantly.

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Just as you can submit your homework online, your teachers can also submit your feedback online. This means you’ll be able to view your grades the second they are awarded.

8. Get with the times – digital is the way forward.

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We all know that society is becoming more and more geared towards technological and it’s easy for schools to get left behind in the new digital era. Make sure your school is keeping up!

9. Better for the environment.

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We care about our carbon footprint and so should you. Cut down your paper usage by using a digital school planner and say goodbye to pages and pages of unnecessary paper. Save those trees!

10.Never lose your homework – everything is saved & stored.

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For those of you who aren’t the most organised – everything that you enter into your digital school planner will be saved and stored. This means that losing your homework diary doesn’t equal losing your entire life.

You’re welcome!

Boomerang Ed Team.

Digital or Print? Boomerang Digital Homework Planner 2017

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The age of digital

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We’re living in a digital age, meaning that as teachers, you have an important decision to make about school planners.  Should you move your student and teacher planners to digital or to stay with print?

Well, with the new Boomerang Digital Homework Planner (DHP) you can actually do both.

Go fully digital with the DHP

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The Boomerang Digital Homework Planner is more than a school planner, with all sorts of benefits for schools, teachers, students and parents, including:

  • Interactive online calendar
  • Lesson timetable
  • Homework manager
  • Lesson plans

Why go digital?

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  • Fully integrates with school MIS and can be accessed on any digital device
  • Simplifies homework process
  • Engages with students through their favourite digital devices
  • Impresses OFSTED
  • Reduces your workload

Or have it both ways: digital-print hybrid solutions

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Unsure if your school is ready to go fully digital? You’re not alone.

That’s why we also offer the option to combine the Digital Homework Planner with our printed planners. We want to make the transition from paper to digital as smooth as possible for your school.

Cut your planner budget in half!

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Need we say more? Contact us here to find out how you can save your school money and improve standards at the same time. Let us know what you think!

The time to embrace digital is now.